To Blog or Not to Blog

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Californians

I was at the grocery store tonight and I saw my friend and her mom in the parking lot. I went over to say "Hi" and as I approached my friends mom was scolding the lady in the spot next to her for leaving her cart there instead of returning it to the cart holder, she informed her that, that's how peoples cars get dinged up. The lady responded with some heated words that I didn't hear, but as we were sitting there chatting the lady was pulling away, her pride obviously hurt, had to get one last shot at my friends mom and yelled out the window (in front of her 10 or so year old daughter) "The license plate explains it all!!!" See my friend has California license plates. My friend however is a 5th generation born and raised Idahoan, she just moved back to California after moving there a few years ago when she was offered a job as head pastry chef at a restaurant.My friends mom yelled back that they were 5th generation Idahoans and that she was just mad because she was lazy. Then my friend turned to me and said "she's probably from California herself."While I find this particular incident funny, it ticks me off at the same time. It's stereotyping at it's worst, how can we ever expect this country to get over racism, homophobia, and profiling of any kind, if we can't even get along with people from our own country, just because people from different regions live their lives slightly different then our area. I'm sure California and Idaho are not the only states that have some idiot rivalry. All these letters to the editor in the local paper telling Californians to go home, make me ashamed of our state. Quit acting like a 5 year old child who didn't get his way and is now throwing a temper tantrum because you don't want to share your candy bar and get over it! Instead of being a baby come up with solutions to the problems that Californians supposedly are causing, maybe if you accept a little change or welcome people from another area, you'll find that you like them and that they have something to contribute to our area.Let me know how you feel in about 5-10 years when you finally get fed up and think that the Californians have over-run your great state and when you head off to Canada and Montana and they treat you like scum and tell you to go home.And no, I'm not from California, born and raised Coeur d' Aleneian.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Dear Mr. President

Looks like Pink is joining the Dixie Chicks and other singers who are using their music to speak out against the President. I think it's a very moving song, I just hope she doesn't get the same negative reaction that the Dixie Chicks got though. They also have a new album out with a song on it that is a reaction to how they were treated, also very powerful. In addition to having powerful lyrics, the actual music is beautiful too."Dear Mr. President"(feat. Indigo Girls)Dear Mr. PresidentCome take a walk with meLet's pretend we're just two people andYou're not better than meI'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestlyWhat do you feel when you see all the homeless on the streetWho do you pray for at night before you go to sleepWhat do you feel when you look in the mirrorAre you proudHow do you sleep while the rest of us cryHow do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbyeHow do you walk with your head held highCan you even look me in the eyeAnd tell me whyDear Mr. PresidentWere you a lonely boyAre you a lonely boyAre you a lonely boyHow can you sayNo child is left behindWe're not dumb and we're not blindThey're all sitting in your cellsWhile you pave the road to hellWhat kind of father would take his own daughter's rights awayAnd what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gayI can only imagine what the first lady has to sayYou've come a long way from whiskey and cocaineHow do you sleep while the rest of us cryHow do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbyeHow do you walk with your head held highCan you even look me in the eyeLet me tell you bout hard workMinimum wage with a baby on the wayLet me tell you bout hard workRebuilding your house after the bombs took them awayLet me tell you bout hard workBuilding a bed out of a cardboard boxLet me tell you bout hard workHard workHard workYou don't know nothing bout hard workHard workHard workOhHow do you sleep at nightHow do you walk with your head held highDear Mr. PresidentYou'd never take a walk with meWould you

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Skate Plaza

A friend of mine at work asked me to go to Skate Plaza with her this week. Her sons school was having skate night and she said last year no parents were out there skating so she wanted to go with someone who'd skate with her. It was a blast although I felt kind of old. She was right, not many parents were out there skating but the ones that did were absolutly wonderful.

The cutest part was when they decided to do a "couples skate." At first I thought no way were any kids going to participate, they're elementary kids, but they had all the girls line up against a wall and told the boys to skate around pick a girl, then when they went back by to drop her off and pick another girl. I thought that was a pretty good way to make sure all the girls get picked and there were so many girls that they had the boys pick up two girls, the funny thing was is they all skated next to each other, I don't think I saw any of them holding hands.Well the two best moments was when a dad skated out and picked his daughter up and her face lit up. The next best part was when my friends 10 year old son, who had just told his mom earlier in the day that she could go on a field trip with him later in the week but she wasn't allowed to sit by him, skated up to her and said "Mom! go stand on the wall so I can come pick you up!" she was so touched that her little boy wasn't too embarassed to skate with her.

I reccomend that all adults go out and do a kids activity, it makes you feel good and it's still fun.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Where are you?

So I know all my adoring fans have been wondering where I've been (ha ha ha) So this new job of mine sure does keep me busy.I guess I might be in semi-blurker status over at HBO. I still read at night but rarely comment anymore.So I feel completely naive. I know that CDA has homeless people and poor people but I was not aware of how many people there were until I started my new job.what an eye opener this place has been. Unlike my previous jobs in retail and other offices the people that come in will sit there and patiently wait for two hours to get what they need because they have no choice. It's a huge difference than people who are paying for a service who can't wait two minutes for fresh fries, or wait 30 minutes for their photos at the ONE HOUR photo lab, or can't wait 5 minutes for the person that they did not make an appt with to get off the phone.It breaks my heart when someone asks for toilet paper and a bar of soap and I have to tell them that we're out because we haven't received any donations.It breaks my heart when a mother leans over the counter with tears in her eyes and whispers that her children have lice and she has no money for the treatment.Breaks my heart when an elderly gentleman waits 2 hours for a $10 gas voucher and cries when he finally receives it because he's so thankful.Breaks my heart when a young mother of two has had her power shut off because she owes a measly $86 dollars to her utility company.Breaks my heart when a mother asks for diapers and we have none, but she just smiles and says that she'll bring in all the diapers she has left over that her daughter has outgrown.If you are one of the fortunate people to be above the poverty line, please donate to food banks, please donate toiletries, please donate to Project Share at the bottom of your power bill. Think you pay too much in power to be able to donate? Donate throughout the summer when your bill is super low it will help many people out the next winter. Yes there are lots of people who choose NOT to pay a cent on their power bill all winter then come running when they are faced with a shut off, but there are so many more who make a sincere effort to make payments throughout the winter and the electric company is still going to shut them off because of less than $100 owed.I wish it hadn't taken me working here to find out how many people are in need. I had always planned to donate and volunteer later on in life when I am more financially stable, but I'm going to try harder to make contributions now.

1. I want to be rich not only so I can have money for myself but I want to give my family all they could ever need. So I guess I should say I want to be EXTREMELY rich like a bizillionaire.a. hire my best friend to be my dog walker and her husband to be my pool boy for a ridiculous amount of money.b. hire a chef so I never have to decide what's for dinner again.c. take Stebbijo and anyone who wants to join on a king crab leg world tour extravaganza

2. I wouldn't mind being famous for a little bit.

3. I want to meet Oprah. If we're being really un-realistic, I'd want a time machine and travel back in time and thank Martin Luther King Jr. for his contribution to our world.

4. I want my husband to nominate me for "What Not to Wear" so that I can have people tell me how to dress and give me $5,000 to do it with so that he'll quit complaining about my clothes being cheap (as in price, not trashy)

5. This should really be at the top of my list, but it's fun to start out with the "out there" stuff. I want to start a family and I'm dying to meet my future children, I'm already in love with them.

6. I want to live a long healthy life with good friends and family.

7. I want to have enough income to where I can be a stay at home mommy and do volunteer work and be a softball coach, a Big Sister, maybe a girl scout leader, or whatever my kids are into.

8. I want to walk into a hair salon and say "make me over!" and have them actually do it. I've kind of tried, this lady asked how I wanted my hair cut and I looked at her and said "can't you just decide for me?" She wouldn't. I thought hair ladies would jump at the chance to style peoples hair however they wanted, I guess not. I saw an ad once in the paper you get a free cut and color if you be a "hair model" for students but I had to work. I haven't seen one since.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Sea-Town

Took a trip to Seattle this weekend and some of you may have heard that Seattle might be warmer than the Inland Northwest in the winter time because they don't really get much snow. Don't believe the lies folks, it was COLD! I mean I'm not stupid, I knew it wouldn't be in the 60's or anything but I thought it'd be a little warmer. I was disappointed.

We still spent most of our time outdoors. We went to the Woodland Park zoo which is one of the few tourist hot spots in Seattle that I had yet to do. It was fun but I recommend not going in February. Lots of the animals were tucked away indoors where you could not see them or you'd only see them through a crack in the door. The only other zoo I've ever been to was Walk In The Wild in Spokane and I believe it no longer exists. I don't remember much from it but in comparison I'd say the Woodland Park Zoo was pretty cool and very inexpensive. The next time I'm in Seattle and it's warmer out I think I'll go again so I can see my giraffes, elephants, and hippos up close.

Two more cool places that I'd recommend visiting is the restaurant Sport located across the street from the Space Needle. Any sports fan would love it. Every booth has it's own flat screen TV with a large selection of sports channels to watch, there is a huge projection TV in the middle of the place and there are large flat screens throughout the restaurant and some regular TV's outside the restaurant. They have good food, you can get a Kobe burger but if you want to add cheese and bacon you're going to be spending about $16 for it. You can order a pack of baseball cards off the menu or request a special sports menu and order sports collectibles. The coolest thing about this restaurant is that my hubby helped program all those fancy TV's.

The same guy who hired my husbands company to program Sport was meeting with my husband for some business and had him meet him at a bowling alley (that he designed) in Tukwila (also home to the South Center Mall that is huge) called ACME Bowling. WOW talk about a high tech bowling alley. They had regular lanes then part way down they turned into black light lanes, and they had projector screens that would come out of the ceiling above the lanes for special events. Then there was a special reservation area of lanes that were all black light, the seating was all nice cushy couches and all the lanes had huge screens playing music videos, there were special conference rooms, pool tables and a pretty fancy eating area and tons of fancy TV's everywhere. We didn't have time to bowl but when we go back and find ourselves wanting something to do I think we'll go to that bowling alley.

I sure do love visiting there but I don't know what I'd do if I had to drive around there ( I lived there for a summer once but only took the bus) it's so crazy and parking is a pain in the butt! Everytime we go I try to talk everyone into parking the car and taking the bus but I always lose and we always pay tons of money for parking.